Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., backed more U.S. investment in communications infrastructure. Speaking Monday at a West Virginia broadband summit in Morgantown, the Senate Commerce Committee chairman described NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grants as the most apparent manifestation of public investment in filling broadband gaps. “While the rollout and implementation of BTOP in West Virginia hasn’t been as seamless as we'd hoped, no one can argue that West Virginians don’t stand to benefit enormously from expanded broadband availability when the project is completed,” Rockefeller said, according to prepared remarks (http://1.usa.gov/1gnthhK). “Unfortunately, many in Washington believe that now is the time to cut back on investments in critical infrastructure like broadband. But the reality of broadband deployment, particularly in remote areas, is that it takes public support to reach these locations.” There has been controversy and congressional scrutiny surrounding how much one West Virginia BTOP grantee paid for routers (CD Jan 28 p20). FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel praised West Virginia’s broadband penetration, now above 90 percent. “This has created new opportunities for jobs, education, healthcare and social and civic engagement,” she said at the event. “But there is still more to be done.” Rockefeller pointed to Google Loon as well as the super Wi-Fi network being assembled in Morgantown as projects worth watching. He hailed West Virginia’s progress since its first broadband summit in 2009, noting its broadband access was 72 percent then compared with 91 percent in 2013.
The FCC proposed nearly $33 million in fines against three companies that “apparently violated program rules,” the agency announced. Investigations by the Enforcement Bureau found the companies apparently violated rules limiting Lifeline subscriptions to one subscriber per household, and received payments for thousands of consumers who were already obtaining Lifeline service from the same company. That’s against the law, the commission said. Conexions Wireless will be fined for $18.4 million (http://bit.ly/18Tolsc), i-wireless $8.8 million (http://bit.ly/18TonR4) and True Wireless $5.5 million (http://bit.ly/18TooV9). The FCC also proposed a penalty of $300,000 against Conexions for “willful and repeated failure to provide timely and complete responses” to requests for investigation.
Free State Foundation President Randolph May reiterated his call Monday for a Communications Act overhaul. He recently had advocated for such an overhaul before Congress at a hearing on the IP transition (CD Oct 24 p1). The overhaul should substitute “a deregulatory, free market-oriented regime for the current public utility-style regulatory mandates,” May said in an op-ed for CNET News (http://cnet.co/1b05w9J). May also praised HR-2649, introduced earlier this fall by House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, which proposes an end to the integration ban requiring cable operators to use CableCARDs instead of built-in security in set-top boxes. The bill would require “the FCC to presume that relief from existing regulations should be granted to the telephone companies, absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary,” May noted. “This measure establishing a deregulatory presumption could be a useful tool in enabling the FCC to accelerate the IP transition, especially if applied to all entities subject to FCC regulation.”
Some of the world’s largest telcos are violating Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines on human rights by giving the U.K. General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) unfettered access to Internet and phone traffic passing though undersea cables, said Privacy International on Monday. PI filed formal complaints with the OECD against BT, VeriSign Enterprise, Vodafone Cable, Viatel, Interoute and other companies for helping GCHQ’s spy program Tempora. Those companies had no comment for this report. By granting GCHQ access to fiber cables, the companies may have undermined their customers’ internationally recognized human rights, PI said. It wrote to the telcos in August about their role in Tempora but didn’t get answers showing the companies have taken steps to mitigate or prevent the adverse rights impacts that took place, PI said. There are reports that some of the telecom providers went “well beyond” what was legally required and were paid for their cooperation, it said. Its OECD complaints allege breaches of OCED guidelines for multinational enterprises relating to human rights and privacy. The complaints ask the telcos to: (1) Explain the steps taken to oppose, resist or challenge efforts by GCHQ to obtain mass interception, to the extent they're being legally forced to cooperate with the agency. (2) Exhaust all legal avenues available to challenge GCHQ requests or directions to facilitate its mass surveillance programs. (3) Stop any voluntary compliance. (4) Act to mitigate their contributions to the impact of the spy program. (5) Put policies in place to ensure that all measures available are taken to resist requests from any government for mass surveillance that is contrary to privacy rights. Some companies, such as Google, Microsoft and Facebook, have pushed back against government surveillance requests, PI said. “It is unconscionable to think that the companies that carry our most personal information either refuse to stand up for us, or remain silent when our rights are violated,” said Head of Research Eric King.
Eutelsat signed an agreement with Euronics to enable the German electronics retailer to offer Eutelsat’s Tooway satellite broadband service. The service operates with a small satellite dish and a modem connected to a PC or home network, Eutelsat said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1dI7IF4). Euronics plans to provide the service to areas in Germany “for consumers still beyond range of a quality broadband experience,” it said.
Mignon Clyburn is one of the “greatest chairs in FCC history,” the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council said in a blog post Monday (http://bit.ly/1ebsIXK). “In her six-month tenure, Chairwoman Clyburn has delivered extraordinary value for entrepreneurs and consumers and, especially, for minorities and women trying to break into the nation’s most influential industries and the one-sixth of the economy these industries represent,” wrote MMTC President David Honig and Director of Communications Marcella Gadson. They cited Clyburn’s support for minority broadcasters, introducing minority- and women-owned business statistics in the agency’s wireless competition report, and approving the “largest minority spectrum deal in U.S. history.” They commended her for reducing predatory prison phone rates, taking steps toward “revitalizing” the E-rate program, and “solving the interoperability crisis” after organizing a “pathbreaking multiparty negotiation” to spur investment and buildout of networks in the Lower 700 MHz band. MMTC applauded Clyburn for her help improving “civil rights, entrepreneurship, and technological progress for our nation."
The FCC released a public notice Friday asking questions about licensing models and technical requirements in the 3550-3650 MHz band, following up on last year’s NPRM (CD Dec 13 p6) and a March 14 workshop. The NPRM proposed that the band be reallocated under a three-tiered “Citizens Broadband Service” under Part 95 of the commission’s rules. Comments are due Dec. 5, replies Dec. 20. “Based upon our review of the substantial record before us, we have determined that it would be in the public interest to solicit further comment on specific alternative licensing proposals inspired by some of the suggestions made by commenters and workshop participants to facilitate use of the band for a diverse array of applications,” the public notice said (http://bit.ly/HFatvc). The commission doesn’t ask about issues raised by shared operations with incumbent federal and Fixed Satellite System users, “potential out-of-band interference issues, or any potential geographic restrictions on commercial use of the 3.5 GHz Band,” the notice said. “The Commission or Bureaus may release additional public notices to supplement the record on these or other issues. We also plan to hold a workshop in the near future on the technical aspects of the Spectrum Access System (SAS), as proposed in the NPRM.” The notice seeks comment on various specific variations of the licensing and technical proposals set forth in the NPRM. “The Revised Framework discussed below synthesizes elements from the NPRM and various commenter proposals into an integrated authorization scheme for the 3.5 GHz Band,” the notice said. “In doing so, we seek to advance the discussion about how new technologies can facilitate coexistence between different kinds of users with different rights in the band. The Revised Framework retains the three-tier model proposed in the NPRM but, consistent with alternative authorization methods raised in the NPRM, expands the eligibility criteria for the Priority Access tier and explores innovative means of assigning exclusive authorizations within the tier.”
LightSquared filed a lawsuit Friday against GPS companies, claiming they didn’t disclose potential interference problems between the spectrum and GPS equipment. The defendants are Deere, Garmin, Trimble, the U.S. GPS Industry Council and Coalition to Save Our GPS. The complaint was filed within LightSquared’s bankruptcy proceeding in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. GPS receiver manufacturers, like the defendants, “are the only ones with sufficient knowledge to identify potential problems stemming from their receivers,” the complaint said. LightSquared “could not have identified the potential overload concerns unless defendants had provided LightSquared with the proprietary and confidential operational parameters for their faulty receivers,” it said. The company sought a trial. “This company unnecessarily lost billions of dollars, and this lawsuit provides for interested bidders the factual background between LightSquared and the GPS industry, a deeper understanding of the alleged abuses that led to the filing of these Chapter 11 Cases and the value of losses and damages,” said CEO Doug Smith. “Our primary focus continues to be FCC approval of our revised, GPS-compatible proposal.” The company’s investor, Harbinger Capital Partners, has a similar case pending against the defendants (CD Aug 21 p22). Last week, a judge in the bankruptcy court dismissed portions of another complaint by Harbinger against parties affiliated with Dish Network, but stated that the allegations could still be brought by LightSquared (CD Oct 31 p19). The GPS entities didn’t comment by our deadline.
The FCC proposed a $234,000 fine against Johnson Towers for violations of lighting and registration rules involving three towers in Pinellas Park, Fla. In 2011, an Enforcement Bureau agent responding to an inquiry from the FAA found that one of Johnson’s three towers had been dismantled, and none of them bore FAA required lighting. According to the notice of apparent liability, Johnson’s towers were so close together that only one of them was required to have lighting. The owner told the agent that one tower had been knocked down in 2006, and “rebuilding was unlikely.” Though the owner was told that the FAA and FCC needed to be updated about the destroyed tower, and that the remaining towers needed lighting, neither problem was fixed on subsequent inspections, said the NAL. After repeated calls and inspections, neither the lighting nor the registration issue had been fixed by Oct. 28, 2013, said the NAL. The FCC adjusted Johnson’s fine upward because of the repeated and “egregious” violations, the NAL said.
The Coalition of Mobile Engagement Providers seeks clarification that the revised Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules do not “nullify those written express consents already provided by consumers before that date,” said a public notice released Friday (http://bit.ly/1iB3Iqo). Comments in CG docket 02-278 are due Dec. 2, replies Dec. 17.